Jenu Kurumba Phonology - Practical Orthography Since the Jenu Kurumbas live in the border districts of three states – Tamilnadu (where Tamil is spoken), (where is spoken) and (where is spoken), it is necessary to assign three scripts - Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada for Jenu Kurumba.

The Jenu Kurumbas who live in Tamilnadu will use the Tamil script in order to learn to read and write their own language as well as to bridge to materials at a later time. On the other hand, those who are already literate in Tamil would transfer their existing knowledge in Tamil to reading and writing Jenu Kurumba. The same principle can be applied to Jenu Kurumbas living in Kerala and Karnataka who will be assigned the use of Malayalam and Kannada scripts, respectively.

However, compared to Tamil, there are more phonemes in Jenu Kurumba, so modification of Tamil script is needed. The voiced plosives of Jenu Kurumba will be a main issue since they are not written as phonemes in Tamil. This issue will not affect the other two scripts (Malayalam & Karnataka), because they have more phonemes than Jenu Kurumba. Moreover, the additional vowel symbols needed for writing the vowels ː, ɨ and ɨː seem to be an issue in all the three scripts.

A list of the phonemes with their corresponding orthographic symbols in Tamil is given below followed by Malayalam and Kannada:

1.1 Tamil 1.1.1 Consonants

A Bilabial Labio-dentalDental Alveolar Post alveolarRetroflex Palatal Velar Glottal

p ப த ʈ ட k க Plosive b ப* த* ɖ ட* ɡ க*

Nasal m ம n ன ɳ ண ŋ ங

ʃ ச Affricates ʒ ஜ

Flap ɾ ர

s ஸ Fricative h ஹ z ஸ*

Approximant ʋ வ j ய

Lateral approximant l ல ɭ ள

* Modification needed (voiced plosives are not phonemes in Tamil).

Noteː ஜ ʒ /, ஸ /s/, ஹ /h/ are sanskrit letters used in Tamil since these sounds are not phonemes in Tamil. But these are used in Tamil Bible and all the Tamil speakers know these letters. However, there is no letter for /z/.

1.1.2 Vowels

Front Central Back

i இ ɨ * u உ High iː ஈ ɨː * uː ஊ

e எ o ஒ Mid eː ஏ oː ஓ

ɜ அ

Low ɜː *

ɐ ஆ

* Modification needed

JENU KURUMBA VOWELS

IPA Letter Vowel with [p]

ɜ அ ப ɜː * *

ɐ ஆ பா

i இ பி

i: ஈ பீ ɨ * *

ɨː * * u உ ꯁ

u: ஊ ꯂ e எ பப

e: ஏ பப o ஒ பபா

o: ஓ பபா * Modification needed * Modification needed 1.2 Malayalam

1.2.1 Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dentalDental Alveolar Post alveolarRetroflex Palatal Velar Glottal

p പ ത ʈ ട k ക Plosive b ബ ങ ɖ ഡ ɡ ഗ

Nasal m ம n ന ɳ ണ ŋ ങ

ʃ ച Affricates ʒ ജ

Flap ɾ ര

s സ Fricative h ஹ z സ*

Approximant ʋ വ j യ

Lateral approximant l ല ɭ ള

* Modification needed.

1.2.2 Vowels

Front Central Back

i ഇ ɨ * u ഉ High iː ഈ ɨː * uː ഊ

e എ o ഒ Mid eː ഏ oː ഓ

ɜ അ

Low ɜː *

ɐ ആ

* Modification needed

JENU KURUMBA VOWELS

IPA Letter Vowel with [p]

ɜ അ പ

ɜː * * ɐ ആ പാ

i ഇ പി i: ഈ പീ

ɨ * * ɨː * *

u ഉ പു

u: ഊ പൂ

e എ പപ e: ഏ പപ

o ഒ പപാ

oː ഓ പപാ

* Modification needed 1.3 Kannada 1.3.1 Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dentalDental Alveolar Post alveolarRetroflex Palatal Velar Glottal

p ಪ ತ ʈ ಟ k ಕ Plosive b ಬ ಥ ɖ ಢ ɡ ಗ

Nasal m ಮ n ನ ɳ ಣ ŋ ಙ

ʃ ಚ Affricates ʒ ಜ

Flap ɾ ರ

s ಸ Fricative h ಹ z ಸ*

Approximant ʋ ವ j ಯ

Lateral approximant l ಲ ɭ ಳ

* Modification needed.

1.3.2 Vowels

Front Central Back

i ಇ ɨ * u ಉ High iː ಈ ɨː * uː ಊ

e ಎ o ಒ Mid eː ಏ oː ಓ

ɜ ಅ

Low ɜː *

ɐ ಆ

* Modification needed

JENU KURUMBA VOWELS

IPA Letter Vowel with [p]

ɜ ಅ ಪ ɜː * * ɐ ಆ ಪಾ i ಇ ꢿ

i: ಈ ꢿೀ ɨ * * ɨː * *

u ಉ ಪು u: ಊ ಪೂ e ಎ ಪೆ e: ಏ ಪೆೀ

o ಒ ꣊ * Modification needed o: ಓ ꣊ೀ